The Electric Trio: Does Stillwater Have The Only One?

With spring practices winding down and spring games bringing anticipation for the upcoming football season, its time to take an early look at the Big 12 and the high powered offenses returning.

With six of the conferences 10 teams falling within the top 20 of total offense in the country last year, its safe to safe that offense drives the Big 12. To have an offense that is averaging at least 477 yards per game, you need a quarterback with some weapons at his disposal and this year, Oklahoma State has that.

After Heisman candidate Baker Mayfield lost his Biletnikoff winner, Dede Westbrook, and his two 1,000 yard rushers, Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, he is left with some unproven talent in Norman. However, up the road in Stillwater, the Cowboys feature their best quarterback since 2011, a 1,400 yard receiver and a running back who won Big 12 freshman of the year last year.

The trio of Mason Rudolph, James Washington and Justice Hill is the only returning of that caliber in the Big 12 and are set to have a massive year. The last time these three touched the turf, Rudolph threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with Washington nine times for 171 and one TD, while Hill ran 19 times for 100 yards and a score.

When comparing OSU’s trio to the rest of the conference, the closest semblance of a dynamic trio is Iowa State. They return their dualing QB’s, their starting 500 yard rusher and their single 1,000 yard receiver. So while this is a returning trio( “quad”) they are nowhere near the level of explosiveness featured in Boone Pickens Stadium.